Stock-feeder.



s. F. WEBB.

STOCK FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1911.

Patented May 13, 1913.

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S. F. WEBB. STOCK FEEDER. ABPLIOATION FILED 111113 23, 1911.

1,061,710. Patented May13, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH C0-.WAsmNIJTOiI. n. C.

S. F. WEBB.

STOCK FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2a, 1911.

Patented May 13, 1913.

3 BHBETS-SHEET 3.

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STOCK-FEEDER.

Application filed June 23, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL F. \Vnne, citizen of the United States,residing at Vichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stock-Feeders, of whichthe following is a specification.

It is manifest that the chances of the suc cessful raising of stock aregreatly enhanced if the stock raiser at all times properly proportionsthe feed to the number, age, and condition of the animals and that thestock raiser or farmer, to be successful, should not only know just howmuch feed he is using, so that the expenditures may be properly offsetagainst the incomes, but should so feed the hogs, sheep, or the likethat the food Will be kept clean and in a sanitary condition, which isof course impossible if it be strewed promiscously on the ground or inan open trough where the animals will not only be permitted to overfeed,but will treaddown and otherwise foul the feed and render it unfit forconsumption from a hygienic standpoint.

lVith a knowledge of these conditions, my present invention has for itsprimary object an improved stock feeder bv the use of which a relativelylarge quantity of corn, for instance, can be stored and fed inpredetermined amounts from time to time down into a trough which isembodied in the de vice, the amount of feed being capable of properregulation by the use of the device and the food being kept at all timesfree from becoming foul.

With this and other objects in View as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists essentially in a storagebin for grain, embodying a trough at the bottom of the bin, means forpermitting predetermined and readily ascertained quantities of the grainto pass by gravity from the main storage portion of the bin into a lowerdischarging compartment thereof and thence on to a trough, means forpreventing the weight of the relatively large quantity of grain in themain Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 13, 1913.

Serial No. 634,965.

storage portion of the receptacle or bin from weighing down so heavilyupon the cut--otl as to render diilicult the manual actuation of thecut-off, and simple and etlicient means for moving the cut-off and forregulating the amount of feed permitted to enter those portions of thefeed trough that are accessible to the animals, thereby enabling theirappetites to be properly controlled and pre venting overfeedin Theinvention also consists in a storage bin of this character provided witha cut-off slide separating the main storage compartment from thedischarging compartment underneath, and an improved construction ofdischarging compartment which embodies a relatively stationary sectionand a vertically adjustable section surrounding and telescoping upon therelatively stationary section, whereby the adjustable section mayberaised or lowered to the desired degree relative to the feed troughunderneath, so as to permit the desired amount of grain to flow fromunderneath or out of the discharging section into the opposite sides ofthe trough. And the invention also consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafterdescribe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stock feeder constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewthereof; Fi 3 is a transverse sectional view; Fig. 4t is a fragmentaryperspective view of the trough; Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of thecut-off slide and the channeled frame in which it is mounted formovement; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of a pressurerelieving device mounted in the main storage compartment of the stockfeeder and arranged to prevent the large mass of corn or the like fromprcssing so heavily upon the cut-off below as to render difficult theactuation of the latter.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying draw ingsby the same reference characters.

My improved stock feeder comprises a storage bin for grain, said binbeing preferably provided with a sloping roof 1 designed to shed rain,said roof being provided at any convenient pointwith an opening normallyclosed by a water-tight slide 2, the opening being designed to ad mit ofthe bin being filled. he sloping roof 1 is connected to vertical endwalls 3 and to vertical side walls 4, the latter at their lower portionsconverging inwardly, that is, sloping inwardly and downwardly, asindicated at 5, and merging at their lower edges into the oppositevertically disposed and longitudinally elongated side walls 6 of adischarging compartment 7. The ends of the discharging compartment 7 areclosed by end walls 8 that are separated from the adjoining downwardcontinuat-ions 9 of the end walls 3, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and2. All of these parts are braced by angle bars and the like, as shown,the bracing including upwardly converging end bars 10 which areconnected at their lower ends to transverse sills 11, the latter in turnbeing connected to and supported upon a base or platform 12. It willthus be seen that the bin is divided into a. relatively large upperstorage, compartment 13 and a lower smaller compartment 7, said twocompartments being separated from each other by a preferably channeledframe 14, a portion of which is illustrated in detail in Fig. 6, saidframe being formed with any desired number and size of feed openings 15extending therethrough. Preferably, the frame 14: is braced by archedstrut rods 16 held under the required tension by turnbuckles 17connecting together their adjoining ends, as best illustrated in Fig. 2,the brace rods passing over transversely extending brace bars 18, shownin edge view in Fig. 2 and one of them shown in side view in Fig. 3.

By reference to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the channeled frame 14 hasits sides disposed between the vertical side walls 6 of the dischargingcompartment and the depending ends of the converging walls 5 of thestorage compartment, so that single fastening devices will secure allthree members, and the channeled guide frame will be firmly supported.in order to still fur ther support the said frame and to reinforce thewalls 6, additional longitudinal plates are secured to the inner facesof the said vertical walls with their upper edges bearing against thebottom of the channeled guide frame, as clearly shown in said Fig. 3.

Co-acting with and mounted in the chan- :open position.

neled frame 14; is a cut-off slide 19, the same being formed with feedopenings 20, preferably of the same number and coextensive with theopenings 15 with which they are designed to register. In the presentembodiment of the invention the cut-off slide 19 is in the form of aninverted channel, the free edges of the side flanges 21 resting upon theupper surface of the bottom of the frame it. The side flanges 22 of theframe are preferably braced by tierods 23 and angle bars 24, the samebeing spaced from the bottom of the frame so as to provide the retainingdevices under which the slide 19 passes, whereby said slide is properlyheld to its place.

The slide 19 is pivotally connected near one end to one end of a link25, the outer end of the link being in turn connected to a hand lever 26fulcrumed as at 27. The upper free end of the hand lever 26 is mountedfor a guiding movement in between channel-bars '28 connected at one endto the end of the stora e bin and at their opposite ends to the upperend of an obliquely extending channeled brace 29. The upper handle endof the lever 26 is provided with a pivot arm 30 which is adapted toswing forwardly or .backwardly in between the bars 28, whereby to holdthe lever locked in either closed or Obviously, by drawing the lever outto a greater or less extent, the reg .istry of the openings 20 and 15may be made 'to the required extent, according to the amount of grain itis desired shall be fed through the openings from the storagecompartment 13 down into the discharging compartment 7 or the lever maybe locked fully closed or opened to the fullest extent.

7 In addition to the relatively stationary section of the feedingcompartment that is composed by the side walls 6 and end walls 3, saidcompartment embodies a vertically adjustable section or hood 31 whichentirely surrounds the upper relatively stationary section of thedischarging compartment and which telescopes upon the same, as clearlyillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. In order to vertically adjust theregulating section 31 of the discharging compartment, the end walls ofthe section 31 are provided with outwardly projecting ledges 32 (seeFig. 2), and suspension rods 33 pass through said ledges and areprovided at their lower threaded ends with adjusting nuts 34:, the upperends of the rods 33 being secured in any desired way to some stationaryportion of the housing or framework, whereby, by :turning the nuts 34the relative height of the section 31 may be varied. Preferably thesection 31 is braced by transverse rods 35.

Underneath or at the bottom of the dis charging compartment 7, apreferably double trough 36 is mounted, the same being supported uponthe base or platform 12 and being provided with two feed compartmentsthat are separated by an oppositely beveled intermediate portion 37designed to direct the corn outwardly on both sides as it flows from thedischarging compartment, whereby it may be secured by the feedinganimals. The end bars 38 of the trough 36 preferably have secured tothem angle guides 39 in between which the vertically adjustableregulating section 31 of the discharging compartment is fitted to move.In order to ascertain how many peeks or bushels are fed into the exposedportion of the trough, I provide any suitable construction of gage, suchas that indicated at 41 in Fig. 1, the same being secured opposite acut-away portion of the vertically adjustable section 31 and held in astationary manner, whereby the raising of said section will show aproport-ionate increase in the amount of grain fed into the trough.

In order to relieve the cut-off slide 19 from the weight of the entiremass of grain in the upper storage compartment 13 of the bin, 1 providea pressure relieving device, embodying longitudinally extending andoppositely beveled outwardly and downwardly sloping walls 42 the sideedges of which are supported in spaced relation to the lower convergingside edges of the lower portion 5 of the side walls 4 by supporting endblocks 43 which rest upon said walls, as indicated best in Figs. 2 and3. It will be readily seen that as the beveled walls 42 extend acrossthe upper end of the discharging compartment so as to completely coverthe same, neither the slide 19 nor the frame 14 will be called upon tosupport the weight of the great body of grain within the storagecompartment, so that buckling or choking of the same will be effectuallyovercome. On the other hand, the edges of the beveled portions 42 beingspaced from the converging side walls of the storage compartment, slightopenings are provided which will permit the passage of sufficient grainto properly feed the stock, and the slight amount of grain which willcollect upon the cut-off or slide will be insutficient to interfere inany way with its successful operation.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the operation of my improved stock feeder will be apparent. Inthe practical use of the device, it being understood that a quantity ofcorn or the like is housed within the main upper compartment 13 of thebin, the actuating lever 29 is adjusted to the required degree so as topermit the desired amount of grain to feed downwardly by gravity aroundthe side edges of the device 42 and through the openings 20 and 15 intothe discharging compartment 7, from which the corn will flow downwardlyfrom the beveled intermediate walls 37 of the trough 36 and thus passoutwardly from underneath the lower edge of the section 31 which hasbeen adjusted vertically to the required extent, the grain being therebyrendered accessible, and only to the predetermined amount. Thus it willbe noted that by the use of the device, not only cz n the stock raiserdetermine just how much grain he is feeding to his hogs or other livestock, but the construction of the device insures that the animalscannot tread into or otherwise spoil the corn, as they are wont to dowhen the feed is strewn promiscuously on the ground or deposited in anentirely open trough.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A.stock feeder comprising a bin provided with a storage compartment, :1.lower discharging compartment, and a subjacent trough into which thedischarging compartment opens, the discharging compartment embodying arelatively stationary upper section and a lower vertically adjustabletelescoping section which in the upper adjusted positions of saidtelescoping section has its lower edge entirely free from the bottom ofthe trough, the trough having an oppositely and outwardly beveled bottomwithin the discharging compartment and opening directly thereinto,ledges projecting from the ends of the telescoping section, suspensionrods secured above said section and passing through said ledges,supports adjustably mounted on the suspension rods and bearing againstthe under sides of the ledges, and means for controlling thecommunication be tween the storage and discharging compartmenttherebelow.

2. A stock feeder comprising a bin provided with a storage compartment,the lower side walls of which converge downwardly, a lower dischargingcompartment having vertical side walls, depending from the convergingwalls and a subjacent trough into which the discharging compartmentopens, the discharging compartment consisting of an upper relativelystationary section and a lower vertically adjustable telescopingsection, a vertically adjustable connection between the ends of thevertically adjustable telescoping section and the supports therefor,guides for said section on the ends of the trough, and means forcontrolling the communication between the storage compartment and thedischarging compartment therebelow.

3. A stock feeder comprising a storage compartment having downwardlyconverging side walls, a discharging compartment having vertical sidewalls leading from the lower ends of the said converging side walls,

a feeding trough at the lower end of the disispaced slightly from thedownwardly concharging compartment and communicating verging side wallsof said compartment. 10 therewith, a cut-off within the discharging Intestimony whereof, I aflix my signature compartment near the upper endthereof to in presence of two witnesses.

control the flow therethrough, and a de- SAMUEL F. WEBB [11. 51.]flector arranged within the storage compart- Witnesses: ment over andlmmediately adjacent the v JESSE A. RODGERS,

lower end thereof and having its edges C. C. MERRY.-

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

